Wanted by Her Lost Love (Pregnancy & Passion #2)(14)

Though his mother had never come out and said I told you so, she didn’t have to. It was there as plain as if she’d hung a banner.

She’d never approved of Kelly. Never liked that Ryan was marrying her. She’d been polite, though. Ryan had demanded it of her. He wouldn’t allow any of his family to disrespect the woman he’d chosen to be his wife.

After what had happened with Jarrod and Kelly, he’d expected his mother to be more smug; but she’d been oddly sympathetic. The last thing he wanted at the moment, though, was to bring Kelly to an awkward dinner where his mom would sit with that pinched look on her face and Jarrod would say God knows what.

He’d wondered what would happen when the inevitable confrontation with Jarrod occurred. Now he knew, and it hadn’t gone at all as he’d imagined.

“I think we’ll do dinner another time. Kelly and I aren’t up to it at the moment.”

He said his goodbyes and hung up, starting the car and slamming it into Reverse. He needed some distance before he went off the deep end.

He drove aimlessly and ended up at his office building before he even realized that he was heading in that direction. He didn’t often drive, and usually only when he was leaving the city. He kept his car parked and used his car service. But today he hadn’t been in any mood to wait for pickup.

He parked and went up to his office, acknowledging Jansen’s look of surprise since he’d just told his assistant that morning that he wouldn’t be in for several days.

He waved off Jansen’s question of whether or not he needed anything and shut the door to his office. Then he flopped into his chair and swiveled around to stare out the window.

The weather had turned cold and gray, much more suited to his mood. After spending several days in Texas, where it was a good deal warmer, even in winter, coming back to the cold of the Northeast was a bit of an adjustment.

His cell phone rang, and he almost didn’t answer. It was Cam, and Cam would want to know what had prompted his departure from Moon Island. Ryan was supposed to fly back to New York with Cam and Devon but he’d left in a hurry with a flimsily uttered excuse.

Deciding not to delay the inevitable, he put the phone to his ear.

“You and Dev make it back?”

“There you are. Been trying to call you for the past twenty-four hours. Where the hell did you go in such a hurry?” Cam demanded.

Ryan sighed. “My investigator called. He found Kelly.” There was dead silence and then he heard Cam murmuring to someone else. Probably Dev.

“And?” Cam finally said.

“She was in Houston. I left the island to go and see if it was her.”

“And?” Cam asked again.

“It was. I brought her back to New York with me.”

“You did what? Why the hell did you do that?”

Ryan sighed at the incredulity in Cam’s voice. And then because he needed to unload on someone, he said, “She’s pregnant, Cam.”

“Oh, Christ. What is with all the pregnant women showing up? I’ll ask you the same question I asked Rafael when Bryony appeared out of nowhere. How do you know it’s yours?”

“I don’t believe I said it was mine,” Ryan said mildly. “What I said was that she’s pregnant.”

“Uh-huh, and you’d just bring your ex-fiancée back to New York with you because she’s pregnant with someone else’s baby?”

“Don’t be a smart-ass. The thing is, it could be my baby. Or it could be my brother’s. Are you seeing my problem now?”

“Man, I’d say you have a whole hell of a lot of problems that I’m glad I don’t have. What does she say about all of this?”

“That’s just it. She’s pissed. At me. She acts like I’ve wronged her. I don’t get it. She hasn’t said whose baby it is. She hasn’t denied that it’s my child but neither has she confirmed that it’s mine.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that she doesn’t know?” Cam asked dryly.

Ryan scowled and then pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“Sorry, man, it had to be said. If she was sleeping with you and your brother plus God knows who else, she probably doesn’t have a clue who the baby daddy is.”

“God, stop with the snark. You’re giving me a headache. Kelly isn’t some whore.”

“I never said she was.”

“You implied it.”

“Look, you’re getting pissed at the wrong person here. I’m just asking—as a friend—whether you’ve lost your everloving mind. But then again, I thought you were insane for hiring an investigator to find her. Well, you found her and now you have to deal with the fallout. I’ll tell you just what I told Rafael when he was faced with similar issues. Call your lawyer. Get paternity testing done.”

“I don’t want it to come to that,” Ryan said quietly. “Damn it, I just want to know what went wrong.” He broke off and shook his head. This was a pointless conversation to be having. Cam was an unforgiving bastard on his best day. As soon as he heard what Kelly had done, he’d basically written her off. Cam might be a hard-ass but he was a loyal hard-ass.

Cam was silent for a moment. “Look man, I’m sorry. I get that this has you tied in knots. Personally, I think you ought to go out, have a few drinks and get laid. Come off that self-imposed celibacy stint you’ve been on since you threw her out. But I know you won’t so I won’t go there.”